Domestic power tariff to go up in Kerala

Rs.15 for a unit for those exceeding 300-unit monthly limit

The Kerala State Regulatory Commission has ordered to levy Rs.15 per unit from domestic consumers who exceed the 300-unit monthly limit set for them.

The current power tariff for the consumers in the 300 to 500 unit slab is Rs.7.50 per unit. On crossing the 300 unit consumption limit, the consumers now will have to pay a penalty of Rs.15 per unit. The new rate will come into force from December 15 to May 31, 2013.

The commission has decided to impose 25 per cent power cut for all industrial units which do not have load-shedding at present. It has been decided to impose 20 per cent power cut for industrial units which have load-shedding. Domestic consumers have been exempted from power cut. The average rate will be fixed on the basis of the consumption rate in the previous year. Those exceeding the prescribed consumption limit will have to pay double the rate per unit.

If the High-Tension and Extra High-Tension consumers consume more than the contracted demand, they will have to pay a three-fold fine against the two-fold rate at present. The Kerala State Electricity Board had sought permission to levy Rs.11 per unit for those exceeding the 200-unit limit per month, but the commission fixed it at 300 units per month. But the excess amount granted was more than the rate sought by the board. About 96,000 households which are consuming more than 300 units per month will have to pay the penalty for their additional consumption.

The commission had warned of levying a special surcharge from July 2013 owing to the excessive reliance on solar energy. While calculating the surcharge, the tariff will be fixed after deducting the fine being levied from the consumers. Had the commission not imposed such restrictions at present, it would have to levy a surcharge of Rs.1.50 per unit from July 2013.

As per rough estimates, the restrictions would affect about 18 lakh out of the 103 lakh consumers and help to save 5.7 million units per day.